Warp creel

ABSTRACT

A warp creel with substantially parallel supports for receiving respective juxtapositioned or superimposed thread brakes and associated thread guides, and means for moving the packages associated with the thread brakes out of their unwinding position in the package area for the purpose of exchanging such packages together with their package holding devices. The package holding device of each package is supported by a creel part extending between the end of a mounted package and the thread guide and thread brake associated therewith. The package holding device is guided by the moving means so as to be linearly displaceable at least at the package area of the creel parallel to the axis of a package inserted thereon and away from the thread brake and thread guide and at the end of the aforementioned linear movement externally of the package area such package holding device can be tilted in a vertical plane, preferably through 90*.

United States Patent Wildl Nov. 20, 1973 WARP CREEL Primary ExaminerLeonard D. Christian 75 Inventor: Edwin Wildi, Niederuzwil, Kleema" Switzerland [73] Assignee: Maschinenfabrik Benninger AG, [57] ABSTRACT UZWil, Switzerland A warp creel with substantially parallel supports for [22] Filed: Sept. 25, 1972 receiving respective juxtapositioned or superimposed Appl. No.: 292,134

thread brakes and associated thread guides, and means for moving the packages associated with the thread brakes out of their unwinding position in the package area for the purpose of exchanging such packages together with their package holding devices. The package holding device of each package is supported by a creel part extending between the end of a mounted package and the thread guide and thread brake associated therewith. The package holding device is guided by the moving means so as to be linearly displaceable at least at the package area of the creel parallel to the axis of a package inserted thereon and away from the thread brake and thread guide and at the end of the aforementioned linear movement externally of the package area such package holding device can be tilted in a vertical plane, preferably through 90.

9 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures SH FT 16F 2 PATENTEU NOV 2 0 I975 WARP CREEL BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a new and improved construction of warp creel of the type embodying supports arranged in parallelism for receiving or housing respective juxtapositioned and/or superimposed arranged thread brakes and associated thread guides, and means for moving the packages or bobbins associated with the thread brakes out of their wind-off or unwinding position in the package area together with their package holding devices for the purpose of package or bobbin exchange.

The development efforts in this particular field in more recent times strive to accommodate an ever larger number of packages or bobbins, cones or cops upon a warp creel. But, on the other hand, it is desired to construct the creels as short as possible so that, on the one hand, there can be maintained as small as possible differences in thread tension between the first and the last package of the creel and, on the other hand, to avoid unnecessarily increasing the work path required for servicing the creel.

The thus arising problems are particularly acute with the so-called magazine warp creels, by means of which the work is carried out continuously, for instance such as beaming or warping. With such magazine warp creels there is provided for each thread brake and associated thread guide a respective pair of packages, wherein the start of the thread of one package is connected with the thread end of the other package of the package pair, so that after depletion of the lastmentioned package the thread jumps over the produced connection to the full firstmentioned package and now is wound-off therefrom, whereas its end is connected with the start of a new full package mounted at the location of the prior empty package.

To ensure that replacement of the empty packages by full packages as well as in the case of magazine warp creels the connection of the threads into associated package pairs can occur quickly, simply and disturbance free, it is necessary for this purpose to be able to move the package to be replaced together with its package holding device out of the unwinding position and out of the region of the therewith associated thread guide and thread brake, and, possibly out of the thread balloon of the neighboring package or packages, in other words, out of the package area or'compartment.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Hence, from what has been discussed above it should be apparent that this particular field of textile technology is still in need of warp creels which are not associated with the aformentioned drawbacks and limitations of the prior art proposals. Thus, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide an improved construction of warp creel which effectively and reliably fulfills the existing need in the art and is not associated with the aforementioned drawbacks and limitations of the prior art constructions.

Another and more specific object of the present invention is to provide an improved construction of warp creel which effectively fulfills the need of combining minimum space requirements of the creel in the lengthwise and horizontal direction and allows for good accessibility to the packages or bobbins for exchange purposes.

Although an entire series of solutions has been proposed in the art, especially with regard to magazine warp creels, for the purpose of being able to move the individual packages out of their unwinding or wind-off position, in order to facilitate the removal of empty packages or-bobbins and the insertion of the new packages, still the previous proposals were notcompletely satisfactory for a number of different reasons.

In the great majority of the known magazine warp creels the pairs of packages associated with a thread brake are supported by a package board or shelf independently of the brake board or shelf carrying the thread brakes and guides, and in such a manner that in each case two packages are pivotably retained, for instance, at pivot arms about a common axis, wherein the pivot axes of all pivot arms are carried by supports arranged in parallelism with one another at a frame. If during operation of such creel the one package of a pair of packages is empty then the arm is moved, particularly pivoted, out of the package area, the empty package sleeve is withdrawn and replaced by a new full package. Thereafter, the new. package is again pivoted back and its thread start portion connected with the thread end of the package which is in operation. In order to be able to prevent, during the pivoting-in and pivoting-out of the package holding devices with the packages, contact of neighboring packages located in the wind-off position there is required in the lengthwise direction of the creel a large spacing between the individual packages or at least package pairs. This again has a disadvantageous effect upon the total length of such creels. Additionally, the special supports for the bearings of the pivot arms impair the viewing or facility of inspection of the creel, and thus, renders more difficult the optical control of the creel which is in opera tion, as well as also manipulation or handling thereof from the main aisle.

Other known creel constructions contemplate exchanging the packages externally of the creel in that the package or bobbin holding device is secured, for instance, to a pistol handle which is releasably supported at the package board provided in addition to the brake board. While such type creels render possible a very space saving arrangement of the packages, still they possess the drawback that the packages must be guided manually out of and into respectively, the package or bobbin bay. Consequently, there is present the danger of undesired contact of the packages. Additionally, there is always present the danger that during careless handling, or as a result of vibrations, packages will drop-off and damage lower situated packages. Both the large number of handles as well as the special supports at which they are detachably secured additionally disturb the facility of inspection and accessibility of such creels.

Other prior art creels assemble together the package creeling or mounting devices into a drawer system which enables the package creeler or setter of each package to be guided horizontally out of the wind-off position, to change the package and to again insert the entire apparatus which is guided into the package or bobbin bay. The advantage of such creel, namely, the introduction of the full packages linearly to the thread brake, is realized at the expense of a complicated construction, also at the expense of the operational reliability of the creel. There are employed components, for instance double telescopictubes, which partially extend into the package area and lead to batching of the thread. At the outside of the creel there are required a great number of components which impair visual access and therefore optical control of such creels from a distance. Finally, with such creel constructions, in contrast to other known constructions, while there is realized lesser space requirements, however such is so only in the vertical direction, whereas no saving is realized at all as concerns the much more important extent of the creel in its lengthwise direction, both from the standpoint of the required surface area as well as visual control by the operator.

According to a further known magazine warp creel the package holding devices are connected with vertical uprights or supports arranged in a plane. The package holding devices are pivotable about axes with respect to the vertical uprights. Such axes are located in a plane parallel to the plane of the uprights, and the pivot axes of the package holding devices intersect the uprights at a downwardly open acute angle of about 35 to 50, and the plane of the pivot axes parallel to the plane of the uprights is displaced or offset in a direction leading away from the thread guides. With this construction, which as a practical manner only can be utilized for cops, there is rendered extremely difficult the determination of the exact division both in the horizontal as well as the vertical direction, owing to the diagonal pivoting of the package holding devices, which generally requires maintenance of excessively large safety spacing. The utilization of the space with such construction furthermore also can not be optimum, be cause the packages during their pivoting-in and pivoting-out movement themselves carry out a pivotal movement at the package region. Moreover, since the packages must be pivoted at a very short arm this renders more difficult servicing thereof. The magazine as a unit is not readily visibly accessible owing to the multiplicity of uprights and the blockedup package roots, and the construction contains a large number of components which are expensive and very time-consuming to manufacture. Finally, a given construction is only usable for a very limited range of package sizes, i.e., only for narrowly limited divisions.

According to a further state-of-the-art creel construction each package support rod is secured to an upright through the agency of a pivotal parallelogram. This pivotal parallelogram, for the purpose of exchanging the package, must be rocked out of its horizontal position in the wind-off position out of the package bay into a vertical position. During this pivotal movement the package is ,moved closely past movable compo nents, constituting a great danger of possible damage and operational disturbance. The large number of movable components at the direct neighborhood of the unwinding region are subjected to pronounced contamination by dust and fibers and only can be cleaned with great difi'lculty. Moreover, the large number of parts impairs the visual accessibility of the equipment, so that the condition of the packages only can be controlled from a close-up position. I

Now in contrast thereto there is contemplated by the teachings of this development a warp creel of the aformentioned type wherein the package holding device of each package is carried by a creel part which extends between the end of a mounted package and the therewith associated thread guide and thread brake. Moreover, this holding device is designed such that at least at the package area of the creel it can be displaceably linearly guided. parallel to the axis of a package mounted thereon away from the thread brake and thread guide "and at the end of the aforementioned linear movement externally of the package area can be tilted down into a vertical plane, preferably through By virtue of this construction and arrangement even with the narrowest arrangement of the packages there is ensured for a guided and positive withdrawal of the packages out of the package area for exchange purposes. Since the packages can be moved linearly and in a plane, namely the plane of the thread brake, in other words opposite the pay-off or withdrawal direction of a thread or the thread, out of its wind-off position in the package area and out of such package area, there is rendered possible optimum utilization of the available space, not only in the vertical direction but also in the horizontal and especially in the lengthwise direction of the creel, since the package holding devices can be arranged quite close to one another in both directions.

One of the prior art constructions mentioned at the outset of this disclosure further has the drawback that the package holding devices must be secured to special vertical or horizontal supports, the so-called package board or shelf, whereby additionally with known magazine holding devices oftentimes two different uprights have to work with one thread guide and thread brake respectively. Along with the supports necessary for the mounting of the thread guides and thread brakes, the socalled brake board or shelf, there is also present a spate of supports and other components which impair the facility of inspection of the equipment for monitoring same from a distance.

Now this drawback is effectively prevented according to a further feature of the invention in that, the holding device of eack package is carried by that support which also carries the associated thread guide and thread brake.

The absence of separate supports for the package holding devices allows for an exceptional visual access of the entire creel, enabling reliable control thereof even from a distance.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above, will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such descriptionmakes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a portion of a vertical support of a creel with four superimposed arranged thread guides and associated thread brakes and the holding devices for the packages associated with said thread guides and thread brakes, partially in different positions FIG. 2 is a horizontal sectional view through a portion of a magazine warp creel with two horizontal neighboring vertical supports with a respective thread brake of the associated thread guide and the associated package pair at its holding device in the wind-off position;

FIG. 3 illustrates a sectional view of a package holding device in the wind-off position; and- FIG.4 is a view of the package holding device, corresponding to the showing of FIG. 3, but in the position of the components assumed for exchanging the package.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Describing now the drawings, it is to be understood that only enough of the essential components of two exemplary embodiments of warp creel have been depicted therein to enable those skilled in the art to readily understand the underlying concepts of the invention. Hence, the warp creel which has not been shown in its entirety in the drawings will be understood to comprise a large number of spaced parallel supports 1. These supports 1 can extend horizontally from one end of the creel to the other, or they can be located vertically next to one another as in the arrangement selected for the illustrated exemplary embodiment. These supports 1 are formed by profile members la possessing, in cross-section, a substantially U-shaped configuration, as such is well known in the art of warp creels for the supports of thread brakes and thread guides. At oppositely situated locations of the legs 2 of these supports 1 same are provided with thread guides 3, 3 in the form of pairs of eyelets through which there is linearly guided through the hollow compartment 1b of the profile member 1a of the relevent support 1 the respective thread F withdrawn from a package or bobbin of the creel and thus braked by a double-2-plate thread brake 4 arranged in such hollow compartment.

Now with conventional creels according to FIG. 1 a package or bobbin S is associated with each individual thread brake 4 and associated thread guide 3, 3, and in the case of a magazine warp creel of the type shown in FIG. 2, two packages or bobbins S1 and S2 are associated with each individual thread brake 4 and associated thread guide 3, 3. As can be best recognized by referring to FIG. 2, which illustrates the respective package pair S1 and S2, associated with a thread brake 4, in the wind-off position in the package or bobbin area, the thread F is paid-off the package or bobbin. S1 at the magazine warp creel. The thread end of the package S1 is connected by a knot K with the thread start location of the package. or bobbin S2 which serves as a reserve package. As soon as the package S1 has been completely paid-off then the thread F jumps over, and without interruption, now is withdrawn or paid-off from the package S2. During this time the now empty package or bobbin must be replaced by a full package and its thread start point connected with the thread end of the package S2, so that when the package S2 is empty the thread can again be withdrawn or paid-off without interruption from the new package.

In order that the replacement of the respective empty package by a fresh or new package or, in the case of magazine wrap creels, the aforementioned connection of the start of the thread and the thread end. during the winding-off of the other package can take place without hindering the package which is in operation and, particularly, without the windings or laps of the packages contacting something, it is necessary for this purpose to move the package to be replaced out of the wind-off or unwinding position at the package area of the creel as illustrated in FIG. 2. as well as in FIG. 1 for the lowermost package 5, i.e., to move such package out of the region of the package which is in its operable position. With the inventive warp creel this movement of the package occurs during the first phase linearly in the horizontal plane of the associated thread brake 4 away from the latter.

The construction of the package holding device which allows for such will be more readily understood from FIGS. 3 and 4.

At a leg 2 of the support 1, which also carries the thread brake 4 and the thread guides 3, 3, and which support 1 is associated with the relevant package or bobbin, there is welded or otherwise connected a square pipe or tubular member 5 which extends horizontally away from such support 1 toward the interior of the creel. A sliding element 6, preferably formed of plastic material, is mounted non-rotatably in the square pipe 5 so as to be lengthwise displaceable. At the sliding element 6 there is hingedly connected through the agency of a toggle or universal joint 7 an arm 8. This arm 8, in the position of FIG. 3, penetrates through a guide sleeve or collar 9 placed upon the open end of the square pipe 5, this guide sleeve 9 preferably also being fabricated from plastic and together with the sliding element 6 ensuring for linear guiding of the arm 8 at the square pipe 5. This guide sleeve 9 forms a stop by means of a part 10 which extends into the hollow compartment or space 5a of the square pipe 5, this stop preventing complete withdrawal of the sliding element 6 out of the pipe 5. At the end opposite the joint 7 the arm 8 carries a grip or gripping portion 11 which extends perpendicular thereto. This grip portion 11 carries a spindle 12 which extends perpendicular therefrom and therefore parallel to the arm' 8, this spindle 12 serving in conventional manner for the mounting of a package and, if desired, can carry at its free end a disk.

With the arm 8 inserted into the square pipe 5 according to the showing of FIG. 3, the components assume the position in the wind-off or unwinding position of the bobbin or package, as such has also been illustrated for the two lowermost packages of FIG. 1 and for all of the packages of FIG. 2. To exchange a package the grip portion 11 of the associated package holding device is seized and withdrawn, whereby the package is initially linearly guided parallel to the axis of the package and opposite to the direction of pay-off of the thread out of the package area and out of the region of the neighboring packages located in the wind-off position. During this first operational phase the arm 8 and the sliding element 6 suspended thereat slide coaxially within the square pipe 5 until reaching the position illustrated for the uppermost package or bobbin of FIG. 1. In this position the joint 7 has departed out of the square pipe or tubular member 5, so that the arm 8 and the components 11, 12 secured thereto together with the package mounted upon the spindle 12 can freely tilt in a vertical plane through towards the bottom, into the position depicted for the second uppermost package of FIG. 1, which is also illustrated in FIG. 4. In this exchange position the grip or gripper portion 11 of the next lower package holding device located at the unwinding or wind-off position forms a stop for the arm 8. The package to be exchanged bears upon the now narrow horizontal extending gripper portion 11 and can be removed by one hand. Likewise it is possible to again mount a new package with one hand and in this or in the again inserted or retracted position with a construction of the creel as a magazine warp creel the threads of two packages associated with a thread brake can be connected with one another, for instance knotted to one another.

As shown in FIG. 2, with a construction of the described creel as a magazine warp creel the package holding devices for both packages 81, S2 associated with the thread guide 3, 3 and thread brake 4 are secured to the support 1 in the form of a horizontal V extending towards the support 1. Instead of, as illustrated in the exemplary embodiment, the support 1 of the creel extending vertically and always possessing unit or assembly of thread guide, thread brake and package holding device arranged in spaced relation above one another, it would also be possible for the support to also extend horizontally and to have such units or assemblies arranged in spaced relationship adjacent one another.

In both cases the inventive warp creels possess, in contrast to the previously explained known creels, a whole series of exceptional advantages.

In the first instant there should be mentioned the thereby obtained optimum utilization of the space, and specifically not only in terms of the height but also in the horizontal plane and quite particularly in the lengthwise extent of the creel, which is something of greater importance in terms of surface load.

In the second instance there should be mentioned as a notable advantage the visual accessibility or facility of inspection of the inventive creel, predicated upon the fact that here there is dispensed with a separate package shelf or board, i.e., special supports or carriers for the package holding devices, and the smaller number of components required for each package holding device.

The package holding devices additionally can be considered to be maintenance free units. One need hardly fear any wear since the movable components are formed from paired plastic/metal parts. In the unwinding or wind-off position of the packages the displacement and pivot mechanism is retracted into the square tube or pipe 5 and there protected against contamination by dust and fibers. In this position there are not present at any location protruding screws or edges which could hinder thread travel.

All parts are inexpensive to manufacture and can be fabricated in molds in the most simple manner. Additionally, the parts are symmetrical, affording an advantage from the fabrication standpoint, and with the exception of the grip or gripper portion 11 are independent of the division of the creel.

Nonetheless there is ensured for a positive and linear introduction and removal of the packages into and out of the package bay, so that contact of neighboring packages is practically not possible. This safeguard is also ensured for with the largest and longest packages or bobbins, since introduction of the packages is independent of diameter, length and weight of the packages.

When required and through Slight withdrawal of the arm 8 it is possible to adjust the distance, packagethread brake, in the wind-off position, in order to obtain better pay-oft or withdrawal characteristics.

The package holding devices form at the same time balloon dividers or breakers between superimposed arranged packages at the wind-off position. The package holder devices can be readily loaded with a single hand.

While there is shown and described present preferred embodiments of the invention, it is to be distinctly understood that the invention is not limited thereto, but may be otherwise variously embodied and practiced within the scope of the following claims. ACCORD- INGLY,

What is claimed is:

l. A warp creel for mounting thread packages at a creel package area, comprising support means, thread brake means and associated thread guide means arranged at said support means, package holding means for each thread package, means cooperating with each package holding means to enable moving a package mounted at the package holding means for exchange purposes together with the package holding means out of the thread wind-off position at the package area, said cooperating moving means comprising a component of the creel extending between the end of a mounted package at the associated package holding means and the thread guide means and thread brake means associated therewith for supporting the package holding means for each package, said moving means cooperating with the associated package holding means to enable such associated package holding means to carry out a substantially linear movement at least at the package area of the creel substantially parallel to the axis of the mounted package away from the associated thread guide means and thread brake means and at the end of said linear movement allowing for downward pivoting of such package holding means externally of the package area.

2. The warp creel as defined in claim 1, wherein the downward pivoting movement is through an angle of approximately 3. The wrap creel as defined in claim 1, wherin each package holding means includes a member, a spindle intended to receive the package rigidly secured substantially perpendicular to said member, said cooperating moving means embodying an arm extending substantially perpendicularly away from said member in the direction of the spindle and sustantially parallel thereto, said creel component comprising a substantially horizontal pipe member extending away from said support means of the warp creel, said arm being nonrotatably but lengthwise displaceably mounted in the pipe member for rendering possible said linear movement, a sliding element slidably but non-rotatably arranged in the pipe member, means for hingedly connecting the arm about a pivot axis with the slidable but non-rotatable sliding element, said arm being movable into a retracted terminal position wherein the hinge connecting means is located externally of the pipe member and enables pivoting of the arm into a vertical plane about the pivot axis of the arm.

4. The warp creel as defined in claim 3, wherein the member connecting the spindle and the arm of each package holding means forms a handgrip for operating the associated package holding means, said member assuming a position at the package holding means when a package mounted upon the package holding means is located in its thread wind-off position which defines a stop for limiting the pivotal movement of a package holding means situated thereabove.

5. The warp creel as defined in claim 3, wherein said pipe member comprises a square metallic pipe, a collar located at the free end of the pipe member guiding the arm and preventing the complete departure of the sliding element out of the pipe member, said sliding element and said collar being formed of plastic.

6. The warp creel as defined in claim 1, wherein the package holding means for each package is supported by a support means which also carries the associated thread guide means and thread brake means.

means and the associated thread brake means and associated package holding means.

9. The warp creel as defined in claim 5, wherein said support means possesses horizontally extending and respective spacedly arranged juxtapositioned thread guide means, associated thread brake means and associated package holding means. 

1. A warp creel for mounting thread packages at a creel package area, comprising support means, thread brake means and associated thread guide means arranged at said support means, package holding means for each thread package, means cooperating with each package holding means to enable moving a package mounted at the package holding means for exchange purposes together with the package holding means out of the thread wind-off position at the package area, said cooperating moving means comprising a component of the creel extending between the end of a mounted package at the associated package holding means and the thread guide means and thread brake means associated therewith for supporting the package holding means for each package, said moving means cooperating with the associated package holding means to enable such associated package holding means to carry out a substantially linear movement at least at the package area of the creel substantially parallel to the axis of the mounted package away from the associated thread guide means and thread brake means and at the end of said linear movement allowing for downward pivoting of such package holding means externally of the package area.
 2. The warp creel as defined in claim 1, wherein the downward pivoting movement is through an angle of approximately 90* .
 3. The wrap creel as defined in claim 1, wherin each package holding means includes a member, a spindle intended to receive the package rigidly secured substantially perpendicular to said member, said cooperating moving means embodying an arm extending substantially perpendicularly away from said member in the direction of the spindle and sustantially parallel thereto, said creel component comprising a substantially horizontal pipe member extending away from said support means of the warp creel, said arm being non-rotatably but lengthwise displaceably mounted in the pipe member for rendering possible said linear movement, a sliding element slidably but non-rotatably arranged in the pipe member, means for hingedly connecting the arm about a pivot axis with the slidable but non-rotatable sliding element, said arm being movable into a retracted terminal position wherein the hinge connecting means is located externally of the pipe member and enables pivoting of the arm into a vertical plane about the pivot axis of the arm.
 4. The warp creel as defined in claim 3, wherein the member connecting the spindle and the arm of each package holding means forms a handgrip for operating the assOciated package holding means, said member assuming a position at the package holding means when a package mounted upon the package holding means is located in its thread wind-off position which defines a stop for limiting the pivotal movement of a package holding means situated thereabove.
 5. The warp creel as defined in claim 3, wherein said pipe member comprises a square metallic pipe, a collar located at the free end of the pipe member guiding the arm and preventing the complete departure of the sliding element out of the pipe member, said sliding element and said collar being formed of plastic.
 6. The warp creel as defined in claim 1, wherein the package holding means for each package is supported by a support means which also carries the associated thread guide means and thread brake means.
 7. The warp creel as defined in claim 5, especially for a magazine warp creel, wherein the package holding means of both packages associated with a thread guide means and thread brake means are arranged in a horizontal plane in a substantially V-shaped configuration directed towards the support means.
 8. The warp creel as defined in claim 5, wherein said support means carries vertically extending and respectively spaced superimposed arranged thread guide means and the associated thread brake means and associated package holding means.
 9. The warp creel as defined in claim 5, wherein said support means possesses horizontally extending and respective spacedly arranged juxtapositioned thread guide means, associated thread brake means and associated package holding means. 